By: Maleena Luckadoo
Every student athlete’s goal is to play as many years on varsity as possible. Most people only end up playing varsity for their junior and senior years, Michael Klomparens was fortunate enough to start his varsity career sophomore year.
“I started playing football in the fall of fourth grade,” he shared, “I’ve always played rocket and rec leagues.”
He is a left guard for the varsity football team at Hamilton High School. He is a sophomore this year and started practicing with the varsity team this past summer and has been playing with them since then.
Michael’s favorite part of being on the football team is the brotherhood that he shares with his teammates and the common bond they share with each other on the field. He says that he and his team are optimistic about this season. They are 4-3 right now so he believes that they have grown a lot as a team from the beginning of the season to now.
“It can be scary being an underclassman on varsity,” he noted, “and there can be a lot of pressure to do well, but it is also exciting because people can see that all of the work I have put in has been worth it.”
A good mental approach can be tough for many high school athletes, in order to shake off a tough loss Michael says he does a few things.
“I tend to reflect on how I did for a few hours then I try to take my mind off of football by hanging out with my friends”
According to Head Football Coach Philip Koops, “Micheal was a really good freshman player and we [the coaches] thought that maybe he could play varsity football as a sophomore.”
Coach Koops describes Michael as “… a pretty ‘raw’ player. Big strong kid, I don’t know if he really thought about the technical aspects of what he was doing, he just kinda went out there and smashed other freshmen who were not as strong as him or fast as him, so I’ve seen some growth in him as far as being more of a technician and knowing what first step to take and where his hands go, body posture, where he’s trying to position himself verse his defenders, things like this.”
“When he steps the right way everything goes well,” noted Joey Klein.
“Klompy [Michael] is a great friend and I practice with him a lot and he’s probably my favorite lineman,” said Tyler Michielsen
Michael has contributed a lot to the varsity football team. His teammates and coaches have noticed the time and effort he puts into getting better at the game. This experience will improve his readiness for the rest of his varsity years.